Tampon recall

Kimberly Clark has recalled its U by Kotex Sleek tampons “after reports of the tampons unraveling or coming apart upon removal.”

Georgia considering changing its cannabis laws

Georgia Republicans want the state to allow hemp farming and the distribution of cannabis oil.

Hemp farming* would let companies in the state produce products with CBD — which is legal throughout the country but not in Georgia. It “could be processed into droplets, capsules and creams that are already widely available to the public in nutrition stores” — in other words, bring those businesses into Georgia.

Cannabis oil is a trickier nut to crack. Current state law allows about 6,000 Georgians with certain medical conditions to possess the oil, but not buy it or import it. (I.e., the only way to get it is to break the law.) The proposal would set up regulations for producing and distributing that low-THC oil allowed by Georgia law.

*Hemp is related to marijuana, but is a different plant — it contains little or no THC.

I don’t think it works that way

HHS Secretary Alex Azar told HIV treatment conference attendees that allowing Medicare Part D insurers to remove drugs from their formularies (if the prices increase too much) — and implement step therapy — will lower costs and not make it harder for patients to get the drugs they need.

In fact, he claimed, being able to remove drugs from their formularies would somehow “expand patient access to antiretrovirals and other expensive drugs, by driving down prices.”

ICYMI

In 2016, fentanyl was the “deadliest drug in America.” Meaning it was most often listed as the cause of an overdose death.

What, you want the rest of the top ten? They are: heroin, hydrocodone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, alprazolam, diazepam, cocaine, and methamphetamine. “Oxycodone ranked first in 2011,
heroin during 2012–2015, and fentanyl in 2016,” says the CDC.

A little spritz’ll do ya

Helping someone quit smoking? Consider nicotine mouth sprays. A new study finds they are a solid tool for the arsenal.

If it was a snake it would have bit me

Animal-related injuries cost Americans more than $1 billion a year — that’s for treatment, lost wages, and all those other costs. What animals, you ask? Those with more than two legs, mostly:

Nearly half (2,648,880; 41%) of the injuries were caused by non-venomous insect and spider bites, while dog bites accounted for around one in four (1,658,295; 26%). Around one in eight (13%; 812,357) were caused by hornet, wasp, or bee stings.

What about the death rate? Only 0.02% died as a result of their injury — and the highest death rate was from rat bites. (Snake/lizard was #2, and dog was #3.)

And if that’s got you thinking, “Hmm, I wonder what the deadliest animal in the world is?” we have the answer to that, too:

Paying the way

I was going to make this today’s Long Read™, but I realized this is probably not news to most of you. But it’s still a well-written explainer: “The Little-Known Way Pharma Companies Hook People On Their Costly Drugs” from Time and Kaiser Health News. (Spoiler: They do it by paying for medication when insurance companies don’t.)